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Brainstorming a rotating control panel
Paul Olson:
I am one of the crazy people that wants to have every kind of controller ever made. It is just not feasible, even with a modular setup. I am currently trying cut out planned panels to try to get all of them to fit into one closet. I have already cut 30 panels, and there is still no way I can fit them all into the closet.
The rotating panels look really cool, but they are very limiting in what you can do. Mine is full modular, but I would suggest doing a swappable/modular design. Make one panel with the standard 2 player layout and maybe a trackball. Make it swappable. After playing that for a while, if you really want to add more controllers, make another panel that is either complete, or allows for modules. With good planning in the beginning, you can have a cabinet that can be both simple or extremely complicated without redesigning. It can just be an additive process when you feel the need.
I make this recommendation to try to help people avoid the situation I have created for myself. There is just too much stuff. If I would have been smarter in the beginning, I would have saved a ton of time and money (at this level of crazy, I probably could almost buy a NIB pinball machine for the amount I have sunk into this project over the last 10 years). I have changed my focus to pinball over the last couple of years, so there are some of these panels that I may never even use at this point. This pic shows 26 panels that are mostly done. I have at least 16 more to finish and try to fit in the closet. I guess the point is: listen to the people who say cover 90% of the games with the standard layout. If you think you will want more, design in the capability to add in the future if you decide you really need more than the standard games. I have owned most of the games that I have unique controllers for, and I didn't play them as much as I thought I would. The only one I miss and did play a lot is Super Sprint. You can see the 3 wheels on the 3rd shelf up. That was a must have for me, and the cabinet has 3 pedals built into it. Actually, those still need to be wired up, so I am going to get off of here and go do that so I can play. Design for crazy, then only do it if you really are crazy. lol
Batchman:
Some very good things to think about.
Many of you say to concentrate a lot more on what I am really interested in, rather than on being able to play everything ... largely that has been what I have been doing. I never played more than a single one of the street fighter-type games, but the one fighting game I have played is the one that makes me more interested in allowing for four players, since X-Men is one of my all-time favorite games. I also loved Gauntlet. I have long wanted to play Marble Madness properly with two track balls. And the four spinners are because I have always thought Warlords was one of the wildest, funnest games imaginable, even if the graphics were as low end as low end could be.
But being terribly honest with myself, I do not have all that many friends, I do not do a lot of partying, and while I would love to have the ability to play four player on these games, I would probably have far less opportunities than most of you (who already say the four player is almost never used) to have more than two players playing at a time.
There seems to be a bit of a consensus building here that modular would be a bit easier and a bit cheaper than rotating, and (contrary to my first thoughts on it) perhaps more elegant, as well. Is this truly the general consensus?
I'll admit that, especially as a first cabinet, less expensive and less complicated could surely be a good thing. I guess I really do have more thinking to do.
And just as an aside, I have seen the heavy use of both the dual six button and the dual eight button layouts ... how many games (and which ones) actually make use of eight buttons? It seems almost insane! (Yeah, I'm really one to talk, eh?)
But again, thank you all for being willing to brainstorm with me! I really appreciate it!
yotsuya:
Glad to see you take all this constructive feedback in to account, Batchman. We all start out wanting to be able to play those 5000 games, but you never will. You learn how to adapt and it works out in the end.
If you're like me, you'll also end up with 11 cabs total, but that's a different story.... :laugh2:
mgb:
The eight button per player thing seems to have really come from the console fight sticks and Vewlix.
The four button row with 3 button row comes from wanting to have a neo geo layout as well as a street fighter layout.
You seem to take the advice well.
I love warlords too but I've always played in on Atari 2600 and I find that version just as fun.
Games like gauntlet, have 2 player versions on mame where you can pick the player you want rather than each control being married to a particular character.
I'm pretty friendless my self ( or at least, I don't want the people I know to come to my house)
So a two player works fine
Batchman:
--- Quote from: mgb on February 01, 2014, 12:57:31 pm ---You seem to take the advice well.
I love warlords too but I've always played in on Atari 2600 and I find that version just as fun.
--- End quote ---
Thank you ... I'm so out of my depth here at the moment, I would be an idiot not to listen to the advice.
And I don't think I have ever actually played the arcade version of Warlords ... it was also the 2600 version which hooked me on it.
Problem was the 2600 paddles never seemed all that sturdy ... it only took a few months before they started flickering, which made them much more difficult to use.
Thinking about it a fair amount after reading this thread, I am becoming rather more enamored with the modular concept. For one thing, it backs off on the frankenpanel issue, by letting me concentrate much more on the controls I need at any specific time, and for another, it would allow me to start smaller, with 6 or 7 panel parts that will still cover maybe 80% of games (and 95% of the ones I am really interested in), then add another 5 or 6 over time to expand on that list. Less controllers to buy, early on, but easily expandable, since I will have already planned for it.
And then it lets me get a much quicker start on my planning, since I don't have to perfect massive panels ... yes, I am thinking this is the way to go, more by the minute!
Again, thank you all for the thoughts and the reasoning!
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